I just posted the first part of my newest endeavor. I've title it Barrett, Howard, and the Thousand Choices. That title might change if I can come up with a better one; however, it will be kept in the format of all the Cynthia Chronicles stories. This story follows very quickly after Adam and the Three Wishes which was received quite well here. I based the title on the decisions the two main characters are led to make. Some may eventually see a bit of a similarity to some recent stories Elrod has posted.
For more than 40 years my wife and I have been trying to figure out the name of a movie we had seen on late night television in Little Rock in the late 60s.. One of the stations stayed on all night. That was a big thing then. After the last late night show was over, they'd play old movies. This was before we started going together. There was a particular movie that we saw several times. It had a music theme that was built around a piano concerto. It may have been Rachmaninoff or Grieg.
I am sure many of you are aware we are part time antique dealers specializing in silver. We had done shows for about 20 years before my prostate surgery. For the last five years we've been doing only on-line auctions; however, a few months ago we decided to rent a showcase in one of the nicer antique malls in the area. It basically is giving us a chance to sell a rather large accumulated inventory. We had aske the operators of the mall about getting a larger showcase, and a couple of weeks ago one became available. Two weeks ago Saturday we moved our inventory into the larger case.
After listening to many users, I have decided to download Firefox and give it a try. The problem is when I try to find a safe site to use for the download, there are dozens that appear to be legit; however, I found out the hard way that many of these download sites install all sorts of malware and worse on my computer. For those in the know, what site do you recommend. Preferably the official Firefox site. Thanks.
I was going through 'My Stories' list today. I do it every day to see if anyone has left a comment. Anyway, I noticed the very poor reception that two of my stories received: Five Love Stories en Brochette, and Bobbie and the Glass Ceiling. The later was about a golf tournament, and I can understand the lack of interest. Unfortunately for those who didn't read it, there was a tremendous amount of information there pertinent to the whole Cynthia Chronicles series. That story required quite a bit of research, and probably took six months to shape up. That's okay.
More than six years ago I discovered BCTS. What a wonderful discovery it was. Because my CRS, I will probably forget to say anything about my sixth anniversary of being an official member of this wonderful place when the time rolls around a few weeks from now. Strike while the iron's hot. It will be six years near the end of this month that I tentively made my first official ventures as a participant here here. I've met some wonderful people. Unfortunately, too many are departed. Thank you everyone for your wonderful contributions. Thank you for reading and commenting on mine.
Last July I revisited Aviano Air Base north of Venice, Italy. We spent three days driving around the area, and spent one day following The Prosecco Road in the Treviso Province of the Veneto to the west of Aviano. It is beautiful country. We found the vineyards where the grapes of our favorite prosecco are grown. We also learned the hard way about the changes in European cars that have not reached North America. One being that the engine stops when you come to a full stop.
Today I visited a saw mill in northern Arkansas. If any of you have driven the highway between Conway and Harrison, you've seen the mill. I decided to drive non-stop home and fix a late lunch. US 65 joins Interstate 40 at the north side of Conway. There is a long left turn lane to get onI-40 South. I was stopped about 8-10 feet behind the truck in fron of me when I heard a 'chirp' of tire and was clobbered by a GMC 1500 pickup truck. I was driving a 2012 Chevy Malibu. Guess who won? I was knocked into the Nissan Tundra in front, and his tow bar penetrated my radiator.
I've posted a new story, Cynthia and the Solicitous Sisters-In-Law, Part 1. The story will be in three parts. I played with the idea of posting it all at once because it is quite short - only 14,500 words; however, decided to do it this way. The action picks up considerably in the next part. I think there may be a message in the story; however, at the moment, I'm not too sure what it is.
Four years ago I wrote a stand alone Story that became part of a larger work. Stan wrote a very nice comment, and I replied by PM that the story was about him, and it really was. I knew then about his ill health, and thought about what his personal desires might be. So I included Stan in my story, Cynthia and the Christmas Gift. If there is an afterlife or chance to come back, I hope Stan finds a place where he is happy without the horrible physical problems he had to endure.
I lost a good friend this morning due to pneumonia. This was a complication due to pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, and a myriad of other problems. I had known him for about 25 years, but we didn't really become good friends until about 12-15 years ago when we started working for the same state agency. We retired from there about a week apart. More recently, he would ride with me all over the State of Arkansas while I was doing Loss Control Surveys of various businesses. He had done this type of work for years, long before I ever got involved in it after retiring from the military.
There was a time where I thought I might just have Fred and Angie get out of the Air Force and go back to making wine. We would just follow Matt's career; however, Angie sort of took over. I don't know if the American military will ever accept the transgendered. I suspect it will be many years before they do, and if they do, I'm sure that it will be with great reluctance. If there is an Angie out there, it will take someone like her to prove how foolish the current rules are.
First of all I want to than everyone of my hard core fans for their continued support. I appreciate the PMs pointing out some editing omissions on my part. Editing is painful. I wish Holly was feeling better, and I really need her help. I think I will post the next to the last part later today, and the last part tomorrow or Sunday (which may be tomorrow for some of you). Concluding this on a weekend is better than dragging it into the beginning of next week.
John from that unpronounceable place in Wisconsin pointed out a historical error in Part 7 of Soaring With Eagles. I had omitted Theodore Roosevelt and his son as Medal of Honor recipients. That error has now been corrected. Thanks, John.
Re: Soaring With Eagles - Part 2. I forgot how things change in military training. The last time I fired an M-16 was in late summer of 1966. I remember researching Air Force automatic weapons for a previous story and forgot to reference that for this story. Many things changed over the last 47 years, and they will certainly change more up to the time this story takes place. Thanks to everyone for their help.
Wow, things suddenly seem to be working very well. The site is operating rapidly, linking is swift, no more interminable waits, etc. Everything seems to be wonderful. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it.
The big thing about shaggy dog stories is the set up followed by a big let down. Fortunately, at least I think so, Soaring With Eagles is not in that category. The first three parts have been a set up for what I feel is going to be a very interesting rest of the story. We are currently about one third of the way through the story, and the next part rather quickly covers the next six years in our protagonists' lives. Fred worries about his best friend who communicates only through rather unrevealing emails. Angelo's parents are upset, but won't tell Fred anything.
Interesting that I can't access this site from AOL; however, it comes up instantly on IE. I am certainly glad that there are several options available.
I've posted the first part, one of ten, of my latest novel, Soaring With Eagles. This is the last story of eight in the California Saga series. I find the title ironic, as the story seems to be going over like a lead balloon or a fart in a diving bell; there was not one kudo in the first 64 reads. Maybe the introduction could have been a bit more explanitory. As much as many want instant gratification, overnight transformations, misdiagnosed birth sex, etc., it ain't going to happen that way.
Checks can be made out & sent to:
Joyce Melton
1001 Third St.
Space 80
Calimesa, CA 92320
USA
Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
